COMMUNITY

First West Nile Virus mosquito found in countyTips listed to help prevent spread of insects

(Posted July 27, 2017)

Pinal County issued this press release today:

This week, during routine mosquito surveillance, the Pinal County Public Health Services District detected the first West Nile Virus positive mosquitoes in the county this season, more specifically in the San Tan Valley area.

Mosquito surveillance data is used to help determine the risk of mosquito borne disease to Pinal County residents and visitors and it guides PCPHSD's disease prevention efforts.

West Nile Virus, which is spread through the bite of certain mosquitoes, is now common in Arizona. Other mosquito borne diseases, including Zika virus, are emerging into North America, but have not yet been spread locally in Arizona. Pinal County's mosquito surveillance program specifically looks for mosquitoes associated with human disease.

Not everyone who gets mosquito borne diseases has symptoms, but for those who do, some may experience lasting or permanent effects and in the worst cases, the diseases can be fatal. The PCPHSD would like to remind everyone that there is quite a bit that can be done to help prevent mosquito borne disease.

Chris Reimus, who manages the county's vector control program said, "The key to preventing mosquito borne disease is for residents to prevent mosquito breeding on their property. This is especially important since our summer monsoons have started and mosquito activity is ramping up. Residents, especially pregnant women, should be especially vigilant in taking steps to protect themselves to avoid mosquito bites."

To help prevent mosquitoes and mosquito bites:

• Eliminate standing water where mosquitoes can lay their eggs. Check for items outside the home that collect water, such as cans, bottles, jars, buckets, old tires, drums and other containers and get rid of them.

• Change water in flower vases, birdbaths, planters, troughs, and animal watering pans at least twice a week. Be sure to scrub them out when changing water.

• If you have a swimming pool, keep it operational. If you must keep it out of use, make sure you remove the standing water, keep it chlorinated, or run the filter daily.

• Even a short time being outdoors can be long enough to get a mosquito bite. Take extra care to use insect repellent and protective clothing. When outdoors, use an EPA-registered and CDC approved insect repellent.

• Keep mosquitoes outside by having well-fitting screens on both windows and doors.

Pinal County also investigates complaints related to disease causing mosquitoes, such as permanent standing water, green pools, or other reports of mosquito activity.

If you would like information on mosquito prevention and control, or to file a complaint, visit the Pinal County Environmental Health Services webpage at http://pinalcountyaz.gov/ehs, or call 866-287-0209.

New app will cut wait times at Banner Urgent Care

(Posted July 26, 2017)

Banner Health issued this press release today:

Banner Health is adding an online feature that will increase comfort and convenience for patients receiving care at Banner Urgent Care facilities across the Valley, including in Casa Grande. The new online reservation system allows patients to virtually “save their spot in line,” thus avoiding the need to sit in waiting rooms when they aren’t feeling well.

Banner Urgent Care in Casa Grande will begin using this feature on Aug. 1 at its location at 1676 E. McMurray Blvd., Suite 1.

Patients using the online check-in system can reduce their wait to as little as zero time up to an average of 15 minutes, depending on the location. Traditionally, urgent care clinics have operated on a walk-in basis, with no way to make an appointment or reserve a time to see a healthcare provider.

The process is quick and easy. By visiting www.bannerhealth.com/urgentcare from a desktop computer, smartphone or tablet, patients can book an online reservation at one of the participating Banner Urgent Care clinics. Patients simply type their name and why they are visiting the clinic.

Patients can schedule a visit daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., search by locations by ZIP code, by a range of distances up to 30 miles from their location and by clinics with a lab and diagnostic imaging on site. After selecting a reservation time and opting to receive text message updates, patients will receive alerts as the reservation time approaches. When patients arrive at the clinic, they check in electronically and can monitor where they stand in the queue or “line” on a screen in the lobby.

“We greatly value our patients’ time and busy schedules, and aim to do all we can to make their lives easier,” said Banner Urgent Care CEO Rob Rohatsch, MD. “Minimizing their wait in our facility can mean a great deal to someone who’s juggling many demands, facing a hectic day or simply not feeling well enough to sit in a waiting room.”

Banner Urgent Care provides a close, convenient and affordable treatment option for patients with non-life threatening illnesses and injuries such as cold and flu; ear, eye and throat infections; fevers; skin rashes; and sprains, strains and lacerations. Banner Urgent Care is open every day of the year, and accepts most insurance plans.

Nominations sought for annual Bravo Award

(Posted July 24, 2017)

The city issued this announcement today:

The Casa Grande Arts and Humanities Commission is accepting nominations for the 2016 Bravo Award, which recognizes “individuals in the Casa Grande area who have made arts and culture a vital part of the community.”

Individuals selected to receive the award must have made a substantial contribution to the arts in Casa Grande, in addition to having served in leadership role in arts organization, created art, art programs/projects, or an organization that has had a positive impact on the art and culture of the city or having spurred additional creative endeavors within the city.

Eligible nominees can be artists, patrons, supporters, teachers, authors, and appreciators of the arts, and must be 18 years of age or older. The recipient cannot have already received the Bravo Award or be a current member of Arts and Humanities Commission.

The staff reports point out that under Prop. 202, Arizona tribes agreed to share a portion of their revenues with the state of Arizona.

“Of the revenues shared,” they say, “12 percent is made available to cities, towns, or counties for the purpose of benefiting the general public through either direct distribution to the local governments or in the form of a deposit to the state of Arizona’s Commerce and Economic Development Commission’s Local Community Fund.

“As all applications to the tribes require a resolution of the city of Casa Grande if awarded, the city created a procedure to collect all Prop. 202 requests at the same time, review them to be sure they address tribal target areas and dollars are spent or benefit Casa Grande residents. This process is intended to consolidate the requests, review them together, and take to the City Council once a year.

“The city of Casa Grande would be responsible for the pass through of these funds. We anticipate this would take approximately 10 hours of staff resources with an approximate cost of less than $500.”

Water stations opened; heat illness signs listed

(Posted June 16, 2017)

The Casa Grande Fire Department issued this announcement today:

Extreme high temperatures over the next few days means risks for heat related illness and dehydration. Please stay hydrated.

There are places throughout the city that will be providing water for those in need of hydration. Those locations and the hours are on this map.

Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion include:

• Faintness or dizziness.

• Nausea or vomiting.

• Heavy sweating often accompanied by cold, clammy skin.

• Weak, rapid pulse.

• Pale or flushed face.

• Muscle cramps.

• Headache.

• Weakness or fatigue

Heat exhaustion can quickly turn to heat stroke, which can be deadly.

Warning signs of heatstroke are:

• Red, hot and moist or dry skin.

• No sweating.

• A strong rapid pulse or a slow weak pulse.

• Nausea.

• Confusion.

• Headache.

• Strange behavior.

Community development block grant updatesThese proposed amendments were outlined to the City Council during Monday night's (June 5) meeting. A two-week comment period opens June 12, with the proposed changes going back before the City Council during the first meeting in July

It's the time of year that we begin hearing about needless drownings of children in unsafe or unattended pools.

The Casa Grande Fire Department has a page for pool safety tips -- with video -- at

Casa Grande making another attempt to regainauthority to provide ambulance services in city

Although the Casa Grande Dispatch story said the city “has taken the first step toward operating the city’s own ambulance service,” it’s really a situation that has been going on for years, basically just another “first step.”

What happened during Monday night’s City Council was approval of a resolution approving hiring a consultant to do a complete analysis of ambulance services in Casa Grande as a prelude to applying to the state for a certificate of necessity for the city to take over providing service.

The city had given up that certificate in the mid 1970s in favor of a private provider.

A brief history of city actions about ambulance service:

In 2003 it was announced that details were being worked out with the then provider, Southwest Ambulance, to have an ambulance in town that would serve only Casa Grande, eliminating situations where Southwest was busy elsewhere and would have to call in an ambulance from Coolidge or Maricopa or sometimes as far away as Maricopa County.

Under that proposal, the city would obtain a new ambulance which Southwest would buy. The attendant would be a Southwest employee and a Casa Grande Fire Department person would also ride in it for calls.

Fast forward to 2007 and another presentation to the City Council about taking over the service because of poor response times and other problems with Southwest.

The 2003 proposed agreement?

"What was transpiring at that time was we were looking at their service levels," then City Manager Jim Thompson said. "We had concerns because of issues like that: never available or en route or other issues. Southwest at that time to make amends or to, I guess, minimize some of the issues that we were faced with provided a designated unit. They painted it, they did everything, and it was designated unit for Casa Grande. They did it. Was it in written form that this was never to leave the city? No. Southwest stated that that was their intent, but we did not enter into any agreement with Southwest.

"At the time, we were looking at potentially entering into an agreement, but we backed out of it," because of several difficulties, Thompson continued.

"In that draft agreement, there was some other contingencies that they were going to support us in acquiring our own transport unit and some other things. We never actually signed that agreement. The city on their own went out and acquired our own transport unit, which we have."

Fast forward — again — to 2015.

The city was again trying to decide what to do about continued substandard Southwest service.

There was a series of meeting between Southwest and city officials, leading to a proposed solution.

Fire Chief Scott Miller told the council that a memorandum of understanding "commences a series of steps that will allow the city of Casa Grande Fire Department to have local control over continuity of care and provide a level of coverage to our customers in our community."

Under the proposed agreement, Southwest and the city would both provide basic and advanced life support ambulance service but Southwest would be basically limited to inter facility calls.

"Inter facility calls is running from hospital to hospital and maybe from a nursing home to the hospital or from a doctor's office," Miller said. "They will continue to do that."

The CG News archived story from that meeting, with statistics, follows this story

Fast forward — yet again — to 2016.

During a council study session Chief Miller said the new owners of Southwest would not support such a memorandum of understanding, sending the city back to the drawing board.

The Casa Grande Dispatch story about that meeting, with statistics, is HERE

That leads to Monday night, where Miller outlined the proposal to hire the James Vincent Group for an ambulance feasibility analysis at a cost of $34,750.

The staff report, read, in part, by Chief Miller, says that by working with the James Vincent Group, the city will be provided objective information regarding the feasibility of three scenarios:

• City-provided advanced life support (ALS) and basic life support (BLS) 9­1­1 calls and transports.

• City-provided ALS and contracted BLS 9­1­1 transports.

• Continued contracting of all transport services by a private provider.

“Their approach is designed to provide us with a comprehensive review of the options for cost ­effective solutions that increase levels of service, financial stability, workforce efficiency and reliability in the system,” the report continues. “The study will enable the City of Casa Grande and its leadership to examine the different options and alternatives and make decisions on the future path of this project based on reliable and independent information.

“JVG has an expert understanding specific to the Arizona fire, ambulance and EMS environment. They have recently worked on similar fire ambulance service analysis and certificate of necessity projects for Chandler, Goodyear, Tempe, Gilbert, Peoria, Green Valley Fire District, Mesa, Northwest Fire District, Sun City West Fire Department and Timber Mesa Fire District.

“After all the information has been collected the JVG team will spend time preparing a draft report. Through a process of review, assessment and feedback, they will complete a detailed analysis and recommendations on the feasibility and sustainability of Casa Grande owning and operating an ambulance transport service.”

Miller told the council Monday night that the “analysis timetable starts this month. with completion by the end of August.

“At that time they will provide us with a final report and then we’ll schedule a study session at that time to bring to the council on those three scenarios and what the recommendation is,” Miller said.

Mayor Craig McFarland asked if the study would help the city acquire a certificate to provide service.

“Yes, sir,” Miller replied. “This is the feasibility, doing all the financial review. They’ll give a five-year forecast on where they think the revenues will be and do the complete analysis from that team.

“And that piece that they’re providing to us, if we choose to continue on the CON process, will be utilized for that process.”

Councilwoman Mary Kortsen said, “I’m so glad to see this. I mean, I really feel like now we’re moving forward. Over the last two or three years there’s been some real concern about our ability to provide good quality, on-time ambulance service to our residents.

“Just the uncertainty of the different providers we’ve had, it doesn’t seem like they can stay financially solvent or solid.

“I also like the idea, if possible, that we have a little more control over what happens in our city.

“This is going to be the big, giant step, I believe, towards getting that.

“The cities that I see that have used these folks gives me a real sense of confidence that we’re going to get some good data and some good decision making.”

Councilman Ralph Varela wanted to know if the analysis will deal with potential legal ramifications.

“This is just strictly feasibility study,” Miller replied, “and once we go into the CON process, that’s where we would discuss the potential of what the costs would be for that legal process.”

Councilwoman Lisa Fitzgibbons, noting that the agreement calls for input from the city, asked if that means actually meeting with residents.

“Does this mean are you going to actually get with the community to see if it’s the current environment?” she asked. “Are you going to check with the community to see how they feel the service is, or is it just strictly internal numbers and that kind of thing?”

Chief Miller replied, “It’s strictly internal, taking our data and our information over a period of time and they’ll be doing the analysis from that, not only from the Fire Department standpoint but from our call load and then from our financials from the Finance Department.”

Fitzgibbons asked if the Fire Department has any records of complaints from the public about ambulance service.

“No,” Miller replied. “We currently do not have any cards or anything that comes back to us regarding that service. That’s something we’ll be implementing this upcoming year, so we can have some feedback as far as how the service was.”

Passage of the resolution was unanimous, with Councilman Dick Powell on an excused absence.

Archived story about 2015 ambulance presentation

(Posted Sept. 22, 2015)

Emergency service by Southwest Ambulance in Casa Grande has degenerated to the point where the city will apply to the state for a certificate of necessity to operate its own service through the Fire Department.

The situation and what it means was outlined to the City Council during a study session Monday night.

"About 10 months ago, we started noticing that we didn't have the coverage in the city that we needed for response to medical calls," Fire Chief Scott Miller told the council.

"We started keeping track of times we were at Level One, which meant we only had one ambulance in the city, or Level Zero, where we had no ambulances; in other words, there was none that could response to an emergency call if it was to occur."

It is not uncommon to hear emergency dispatchers for the city advise that Southwest is at certain levels or that it is a Level Zero, bringing in an ambulance from Coolidge or Maricopa, or sometimes as far away as Maricopa County.

"Deputy City Manager Rains and myself have had meetings over the last eight to 10 months with Southwest Ambulance vice president and their operations person," Miller continued, "and we have been discussing and looking at this kind of agreement and we've finally gotten to this point where we're both good with moving forward on it.

"It was basically to look at the coverage within our community that just wasn't there."

The memorandum of understanding, Miller said, "commences a series of steps that will allow the city of Casa Grande Fire Department to have local control over continuity of care and provide a level of coverage to our customers in our community."

Under the proposed agreement, Southwest and the city would both provide basic and advanced life support ambulance service but Southwest would be basically limited to inter facility calls.

"Inter facility calls is running from hospital to hospital and maybe from a nursing home to the hospital or from a doctor's office," Miller said. "They will continue to do that."

Reaching a new emergency ambulance transport agreement with Southwest and getting a certificate from the state for the city's ambulance service will be a lengthy process, the council was told.

Answering a question from Councilwoman Lisa Fitzgibbons, Miller said, the memorandum of understanding with Southwest (approved by the council during the regular meeting Tuesday night) will go to RuralMetro/Southwest Ambulance for its signature.

"After that," Miller continued, "then we would start working on our certificate of necessity application.

"The CON application is probably two inches thick, where it's a document that we have to put together and there's a chapter of items that we would have to submit.

"We're estimating that putting that application together will take four to six months in order to get that application.

"Included in that application would be the letter of support from Southwest Ambulance for us to receive a CON.

"It goes to the state Department of Health Services. DHS currently has six to 12 months in order to hear it and have it out. Right now, the director has indicated that if nobody intervenes in it, we have the letter of support from Southwest, they can go ahead and waive any CON hearings and they will have that done within a six-month period.

"So you're looking first at four to six months and then six months at DHS, so you're talking almost 12 months out, right there.

"And then from there we have to make a determination on when are we going to launch and go operational."

As part of the memorandum of understanding, Southwest promises a letter of support for Casa Grande getting a certificate of necessity and promises that neither it nor any subsidiary will intervene against the CON request.

Other parts of the memorandum, to be refined during a final ambulance emergency transport agreement, include:

• The city may contract out claims processing and billing.

• The city will continue to be compensated for when a Fire Department person rides along to the hospital during a Southwest advanced life support call.

• The city will still provide dispatch services.

• Southwest will adhere to response times as set forth in its CON.

• The city will rent space at fire stations for Southwest ambulances, to be determined in the final agreement.

• The final agreement with Southwest will be for six years.

What the city now has

Answering a question from Councilman Dick Powell, Miller said the Fire Department now has one ambulance transport unit "and we have another one in our budget this year for purchasing. Conceptually, we're looking at three 24-hour cars that would be out there eventually for coverage dedicated in the city."

In addition, Miller said, "Part of the bigger picture of when we do apply for a CON is that we have had discussions with the Eloy Fire District and we're going to enter into an intergovernmental agreement that we will back each other up and help each other in ambulance transportation. So that's another piece."

Why would Southwest agree?

Councilwoman Mary Kortsen asked what benefit would Southwest get from agreeing to the changes. "Why would Southwest do this?" she asked.

Miller responded that, "Well, one of their business models that they're looking at, it allows it to show to their investors within their company that they have a six-year commitment, six-year guaranteed contract with agencies out there."

RuralMetro, the parent company of Southwest, has only recently emerged from bankruptcy.

Service area

Southwest's certificate of necessity covers Casa Grande, Florence, Coolidge and the city of Maricopa.

"What we're going after for our CON," Miller said, "is our jurisdictional boundaries of the city, and as the city grows that CON grows with the city."

Banner Casa Grande gets 'B' patient safety rating

The Leapfrog Group, a national patient safety watchdog organization, has released its spring 2017 safety grade list. Eleven Banner Health hospitals have received high grades for patient safety ratings. Three hospitals received an ‘A’ grade (the highest patient safety rating), while eight others received a ‘B’ grade (an above average score). The Banner hospitals that received high marks include:

• Banner Boswell Medical Center – Sun City, Ariz.

• Banner Estrella Medical Center – Phoenix, Ariz.

• Sterling Regional MedCenter – Sterling, Colo.

• Banner Baywood Medical Center – Mesa, Ariz.

• Banner Casa Grande Medical Center – Casa Grande, Ariz.

(Banner Casa Grande received a B rating)

• Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center – Sun City West, Ariz.

• Banner Payson Medical Center – Payson, Ariz.

• Banner Desert Medical Center – Mesa, Ariz.

• Banner Gateway Medical Center – Gilbert, Ariz.

• North Colorado Medical Center – Greeley, Colo.

• McKee Medical Center – Loveland, Colo.

The Leapfrog Safety Grade uses 30 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals twice per year. It is calculated by top patient safety experts, peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public.

“Hospitals that earn top marks nationally in the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, have achieved the highest safety standards in the country,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “That takes commitment from every member of the hospital staff, who all deserve thanks and congratulations when their hospitals achieve an ‘A’ Safety Grade.”

It's not always simple to request land use changes,but this case was happily resolved for Home of Hope

It’s sometimes not so simple to apply for a zone change or other land use regulation. Sometimes it’s a thicket of previous decisions, changes along the way.

That was the case with Teen Challenge Home of Home requesting permission to expand its operation at 1955 N. Casa Grande Ave., just south of Kortsen Road, to allow a group home of up to 40 women plus children and to expand day care to allow for up to 100 kids.

The difficulties, happily resolved in favor of Home of Hope, go back to 1983 when the land was zoned as a planned area development to allow a 120-bed nursing facility.

Changing that PAD wasn’t possible because today’s city zoning regulations say a PAD must be on at least five acres. Home of Hope’s 40,465 square feet building is on only 2.38 acres.

Planning and Development Director Paul Tice told the City Council during Monday night’s meeting that the best way was to rezone the property as R-3 residential.

City zoning codes describe R-3 as allowing “high density housing in multiple family structures and directly related complementary uses. The R-3 zone is designed to allow highly economical use of land while creating an attractive, functional and safe residential environment.”

The staff report gives this description of Home of Hope:

The Teen Challenge Home of Hope (HOH) is located at 1955 N. Casa Grande Ave. between Cottonwood Lane and Kortsen Road.

The Home of Hope is a 12-to-15 month residential program for women and their young children.

They opened July 2003 with 10 women and children. Today the Home of Hope has the capacity to serve 40 families.

Women, not only from Arizona but from all over the United States, have come with their children to receive help.

The result has been mothers and children living new lives free from drug abuse, domestic violence and homelessness.

Home of Hope provides a safe environment for women to become mentally sound, emotionally balanced, socially adjusted, physically and spiritually healthy and to move out and become productive members of our communities.

To date, the Home of Hope has helped over 800 women and children.

Tice told the council he would give some history on the property that’s important to understand why a zone change really was necessary, even though the use really isn’t changing.

“This property was originally zoned actually PND back in 1983,” he said, adding that “PND was the precursor to our PAD zone. The property was a single-family zone, R-1, zoned to PND for the express purpose of building a 120-bed nursing facility. That was the zoning decision in 1983.

“In 2005, the use had changed from a nursing facility to the Home of Hope facility that consists of a shelter for women and a day care. The Planning Commission in 2005 approved a conditional use for that use, limiting it to a 34-person daycare and then the women’s shelter.

“This was prior to my time here, but it looks like there was a decision made that the women’s shelter and the day care use was similar enough to the nursing facility use to allow it to be approved in its PAD zone. Then in 2012, the Planning Commission

considered a new conditional use permit to increase the child care population from 34 up to 59.”

There was lengthy consideration of the Home of Hope request, Tice said.

“In evaluating this with my staff, I raised a question of whether or not, really, the PAD zoning was really appropriately allowing for the day care and the women’s shelter, given the fact that it was approved as a nursing home,” he continued.

“In looking at what zoning would be the most appropriate, staff felt that the PAD zoning was no longer appropriate. The thought process had been let’s just amend the PAD and recommend council adopt a new PAD.

But the PAD zone requires a minimum site size of five acres, which they don’t meet. They have 2.3 acres of ground.

“But we did identify the fact that the R-3 zoning allowed both the day care and the women’s shelter as conditional uses and the R-3 zone actually fits within the General Plan requirements, as well.

“We made the call that we could recommend approval of this conditional permit to the Planning Commission, but we asked the Planning Commission to impose a condition that said that any future expansion of the day care or the women’s shelter would require a zone change to clean up, if you will, some of the zoning compliance issues.

“Staff did recommend that the applicant apply for the R-3 zone, along with a modified conditional use for the increased day care. The zone change was recommended for approval by the Planning Commission and the day care was approved subject to the R-3 zoning being approved by City Council.”

That is what was approved Monday night by the council.

Although part of the process Monday night was a public hearing, no one from Home of Hope or the public spoke.

Prior to the council’s unanimous approval, Councilman Dick Powell said, “I really appreciate what the Planning Department did to facilitate them being able to do what they’re trying to do. It’s a wonderful organization, really serves an important need, so I compliment you for making it able to be done legally.”

Councilwoman Lisa Fitzgibbons said, “That’s exactly what I was thinking, to recommend to them so they don’t have to go through so much.

“I know some of the Home of Hope people are here. We talk so much about healthy communities and the services, and you guys have done so much for this community and served a need that’s been there.

“I know you guys do a great job and have been there for many, many years and so I’m happy to see the success and glad you were able to work with the city on this, so thank you.”

Councilwoman Mary Kortsen added, “And I particularly like the comment at the end of that, of making those changes, that it meets a need for our community and advances the interests of our community.

“I’m very familiar with that, because I actually sat on the hospital board when Casa Grande Regional had a nursing home facility, and I’ve seen it since it evolved and just an amazing job.”

Mayor Craig McFarland said, “Now we can have more kids, hopefully keep parents together. Thank you for what you guys do.”